


The Fluidity of Magic

by nellnellcooljay



Series: Pixies and Magic [1]
Category: Kpop - Fandom, Stray Kids (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Changbin is the keeper of the pixie, Felix is a mage, Felix is sad, Gen, M/M, Magic, Minho is a pixie, Pixies
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-18
Updated: 2018-02-18
Packaged: 2019-03-20 20:50:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,742
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13725714
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nellnellcooljay/pseuds/nellnellcooljay
Summary: Felix goes into the woods one night to preform a spell that should lead him to a helpful witch who will grant his wish of being a useful member of the team. Key word being "should".It's not all a loss though, because the person that he does meet is helpful, nice, and honestly really cute.





	The Fluidity of Magic

It was a dark and stormy night and Felix was standing alone in the middle of a small clearing in the middle of the woods. Lightning flashed brightly over his head as thunder crashed loudly around him. Everytime that lightning streaked across the sky, Felix was reminded of how dumb it was that he was standing alone in the wood during a torrential downpour. Nevertheless, his hands steadily formed the complex series of shapes in front of him as he automatically murmured the matching incantation. Tonight was the only night that this incantation could be done for the next who knows how long, so the inclement weather wasn’t going to stop him, especially not when he had something this important to do. 

As he neared the end of the long spell, light started to flicker from his fingertips and, as soon as his fingers still, the entire world around him seemed to vibrate. In front of him, a trail of blue wisps illuminated a path that led deeper into the forest, obscured by the rain and the trees.

A grin broke across Felix’s face as he stood staring at the path. Finally, he was able to cast something without it going horribly wrong. Momentarily forgetting about the storm raging overhead and the fact that he was soaked down to the bone, Felix bolted after the wisps knowing that the incantation has a limited timeframe and afraid of what would happen if he were to become lost in the woods without the wisps as a guide.

As he ran through the woods, the trees blurred around him. All he saw were the wisps gently glowing ahead of him, oblivious to the rain beating down on them. His legs pumped quickly under him, feet kicking up mud behind him. The tunnel vision helped him focus on his goal and his goal alone as he sprinted after the wisps.

The legend said that at the end of the path of wisps stood a witch’s hut. A witch that Felix knew would grant any wish that he asked of them, and boy did he have a wish. 

In the sprawling city not far from the woods, ragtag group of stray mages worked in secret, determined to bring magic back to the grey world that they lived in, and Felix was a part of this rebellion. In order for them succeed in bringing back the magic, they had to be powerful enough to get past the court wizards of the ruling king, the only people permitted the use and study of magic and the most powerful wizards in the city. Once past the court wizards, they had to be able to take down the king and his court. All of this required a great deal of talent and skill, something that Felix lacked. Sure, he had studying his naturalist magic for years in secret before joining the rebellion, but that doesn’t mean he was any good before.

The rebellion had been practicing and honing their magic skills for several months. All of the other members of the group had advanced and excelled in their months of practice, but Felix had plateaued almost immediately. The rest of the group were constantly telling him that he wasn’t holding them back and that he was an asset to the team, but he knew the truth. He knew that he was hindering their progress. Felix also knew that the only way for them to accomplish their goal would be either for him to leave, which they would never let him do, or he had to progress somehow.  
When he wasn’t practicing with the rest of the group, when he should have been sleeping or eating, he’d lock himself in the group’s makeshift library and do research. Chan had expressed his concern about this a couple of times, but had Felix always brushed off his concern as wanting to know more about the court wizards. While Chan never seemed to fully believe his feeble lies, he never pressed further.

That’s what led him here, to the middle of the woods during what was probably the worst storm they had had all year running after a glowing blue trail to a fabled witch. The only problem was that, according to all of his research, the wisps were only visible on nights of a blue moon where venus was doing something and mars was also doing something. Felix wasn’t entirely sure on the details, knowing little to nothing about astrology, but when he’d asked Woojin, who miraculously didn’t ask him why he wanted to know, he was told that this was the night that whatever was happening with the stars and the planets would take place for a while.

Felix’s breath was ragged in his throat as he pursued the glowing trail, but soon he felt lost. Not that he had ever felt not lost in the first place, but he now felt very lost. Slowing down to a walk, Felix looked around and realized that the wisp trail had ended and the only thing around him were trees, darkness, and rain.

“Fuck,” he mumbled as the rain beat down on him. “Fuck!” he shouted, collapsing to his knees on the muddy forest floor. He screamed in frustration, pulling at his hair.

“A simple incantation,” he choked out to nobody but himself, self-loathing and frustration swirling together and sending him into a deep pit of misery. “A simple incantation and I somehow managed to fuck it up.” 

A small, tittering laugh cut through the sound of the rain and Felix’s angry self hatred. Slowly looking up, he saw a small, dancing light in front of him. The light danced closer to him until he could finally see past the gleam and the rain. A pleased looking pixie stood giggling before him on the ground. Felix stared in disbelief at the pixie in front of him before groaning loudly.

“Stupid, stupid, stupid,” Felix repeated, hitting himself in the head with each word. “Of course there are pixies in the woods where a fucking witch lives.” He sat, watching the pixie dance and jeer at him as the rain continued to pound onto his already soaked clothes. A crushing mixture of sadness and exhaustion overtook his body as he watched the pixie mock him.

Finally coming to terms with the fact that he was thoroughly lost and had no hope of getting out of these woods tonight, Felix dragged himself to the base of a large tree that offered little shelter from the seemingly endless downpour and leaned close into the trunk, shivering. His eyes grew heavy as he stared at the overly excited pixie dance in the otherwise entirely black forest.  
~~~~

When he came to the next morning, the rain had stopped and the sun had barely risen above the horizon. The pixie lounged on a protruding root not far from him, watching curiously as Felix slowly awoke. Shivering, Felix looked down at his entirely soaked and mud covered clothes that clung comfortably tightly to his body. The pixie tittered happily in front of him earning a glare from Felix.

“You think that this is funny do you?” Felix asked testily, standing up and speaking a quick spell to clean and dry his cold, wet clothes. Finally warmer and more comfortable, he looked around at where he was. From what he could see, which wasn’t much but trees in every direction, it was just the middle of the woods. Groaning, he looked back to the lounging pixie who was still watching him. 

“I don’t suppose that you know where we are, little pixie,” he asked, watching as the pixie just giggled back at Felix before tilting his head back mischievously and covering his mouth with a hand. Sighing, he dropped onto a large rock across from the pixie and leaned forward, pressing his elbows into his knees.

“So I guess that we’re here until either you leave me for dead or you help me out of here,” he stated, staring down at the pixie. The pixie shrugged and leaned back onto his hands.  
~~~~

The sun was high in the sky as Felix and the pixie continued to stare each other down. Well, Felix was staring the pixie down while the pixie was picking at his nailing looking bored. Admittedly, Felix was also pretty bored and hungry, but he wasn’t going to let this pixie think that it had won.

A rustling sound came from somewhere nearby, drawing both Felix and the pixie’s attention. The pixie hopped up, giggling excited and dancing around in a happy circle.

“Uh…?” Felix asked, staring in confusion at the dancing pixie. “Who’s there, little pixie? Is it one of your pixie friends come to lead me more astray? Because I’m already lost, so there’s not much more you can do.” 

“I may be short,” a voice said from behind a tree, “but I am, most assuredly, not a pixie.” A boy stepped into Felix’s line of sight, causing the pixie to practically fly into the treetops, giggling in excitement. Felix scrambled to his feet and held out his hands in front of him.

“Who are you?” he asked, carefully positioning his hands into the first arrangements of a protection spell. The boy standing in front of him had dark hair and sharp features. He wore only a hoodie and jeans, his bare feet somehow not entirely coated in mud from the forest floor. If Felix hadn’t been paying attention, he would have said that he looked normal, very attractive and kind of weird for being barefoot in the woods, but normal. However, Felix was paying attention, at least in that moment, and he saw the ethereal glow that radiated from his body and sensed the pulsing magic that he gave off in waves. It was both unsettling and alluring to Felix as the boy stood before him, scrutinizing him.

“A mage?” the boy said curiously, cocking his head to the side. “There haven’t been many of you that have come here in quite some time. I’m Changbin, keeper of the pixies, but these fuckers don’t really listen to me.” He sent a glare up the tree to where the pixie still tittered in excitement, dancing from branch to branch.

“Keeper of the pixies?” Felix asked incredulously, hands falling loosely to his sides. For some reason, Changbin not only didn’t threaten him, but his presence put Felix at ease. “Seriously?”

“Look, mage,” Changbin said scowling, “I didn’t pick the title, but I do know the way out of the woods. You should be nicer to me if you ever want to get out of here.” The pixie finally came doon from the tree and landed on Changbin’s shoulder, lounging comfortably on it. Changbin glared at the pixie before he reached up and gently flicked him, causing him to lose his balance before angrily chirping at Changbin as he came back to rest on his shoulder.

“Minho here,” Changbin said, gesturing vaguely to the sulky pixie, “didn’t mean any harm. He just heard your incantation and, well, you know how pixies are.” Changbin shrugged, disturbing the pixie yet again. Felix stared at Changbin and Minho in disbelief.

Minho suddenly smiled mischievously and tittered something into Changbin’s ear. Changbin’s face flushed red and he smacked at his shoulder, only succeeding in slapping his shoulder as Minho flew back up into the trees, giggling and dancing again.

“What was that?” Felix asked in confusion, only to have his mind reroute a second later as he realized that Changbin had just talked to the pixie. “Wait, can you understand what they’re saying?”

“Of course I can,” Changbin said dismissively, ignoring the first question and glaring up into the tree at Minho. With a sigh, he directed his attention back to Felix. “Now, what is a mage doing here in my pixie infested woods?”

“I was looking for a witch who I heard lives in these woods,” Felix said slowly, watching Changbin closely. He knew that pixies liked to cause chaos, but he didn’t know how much a pixie keeper like to cause chaos. No matter how much Changbin’s presence put him at ease, he didn’t want to end up in a witch’s stew any time soon. 

“The witch that can grant wishes and you can find by following the wisps,” Felix added when Changbin only stared at him in confusion. At that, Changbin burst out laughing, startling Minho out of the tree and back onto his shoulder. Minho crossed his arms and glared at Felix.

“That witch is a myth,” Changbin said, still laughing. “The pixies made her up to draw mages, like you, out into the woods. Used to be that they would lure them away from the path and eat them but now they just like the mess with the occasional, wayward mage that comes through. Though, like I said, there aren’t many that come through anymore.”

“Wait what about the incantation? And the wisps?” Felix asked in confusion. “I definitely did some sort of incantation.” Last night may be a bit of a blur, but he knows that he did follow some sort of wisp trail.

“Oh yeah,” Changbin said, waving his hand around dismissively. “That is a kind of beacon spell that the pixies use to find the unlucky mages that happen to stumbled into here. The wisps are a trick that the pixies like to play until the poor soul realized that they are complete and utterly lost.” Felix stared wide-eyed at Changbin, slowly processing what he had just been told.

“No,” Felix said, slowly shaking his head. “No, she can’t be fake.” Felix’s eyes welled with tears as he collapsed onto his knees. Shaking his head mutely, he pressed his palms into his eyes. Sharing a shocked look with Minho, Changbin quickly dropped down in front of Felix.

“Hey,” Changbin said hesitantly, reaching a hand out slowly to touch Felix’s shoulder. “God, please don’t cry. Pixies can smell strong emotions, and I really don’t need any other pixies showing up.” Felix’s shoulders shook as he continued to cry into his hands in front of Changbin. Changbin looked to Minho for help, but Minho only continued to watch Felix curiously.

“Why did you need the wish granting witch so badly anyway?” Changbin asked, attempting a different approach. Felix only shook his head again, a sob racking his body.

“I just want to stop being such a useless lump,” he choked out, pressing his hands harder into his eyes. “My friends all say that I’m not useless, but I know I am.” Changbin’s hand stilled where it had been rubbing Felix’s shoulder. Changbin looked in distress at Minho who just shrugged and flitted away, leaving Changbin to curse silently after the pixie.

“For what it’s worth, the pixies usually don’t find the weaker mages appealing,” Changbin said trying to be comforting, as he went back to rubbing Felix’s shoulder. A startled laugh fell out of Felix’s lips as he looked up at Changbin, his eyes red and his face blotchy. Felix scrubbed his hands over his face before sitting back onto the still damp ground. 

“I’m sorry,” Felix mumbled, rubbing his face again and then staring down at the ground. “I’m sorry. I just haven’t had much sleep. I’ve kind of been out here chasing pixies all night like some sort of idiot.” Changbin watched Felix silently, not knowing what to say. They sat in silence for several minutes, Changbin watching Felix warily, not knowing how to comfort the distressed mage, and Felix playing with the dead leaves on the ground. Finally, Changbin spoke up.

“You said that you have friends right? Won’t they be worried about since you’ve been gone all night?” He asked cautiously, not sure how bringing up Felix’s friends would make him feel. Felix nodded running his hands through his hair.

“Yeah they’re probably worried, but it’s better for everybody that I’m not there,” Felix said dejectedly. “I was just holding them back.” He sighed and fell backward onto his back, narrowly missing smashing his head into a protruding tree root. The leaves over his head shook in the wind, rustling and, even though Felix knew it was irrational, he felt like they were whispering jeers at him.

“Can you really be holding them back if they care about you and you care about them?” Changbin asked, shifting so he was sitting next to Felix’s elbow. 

“Yes, I can because they have goals and I can’t help them achieve those goals, all I can do is become a massive target and maybe grow a fern.” Felix covered his face with his hands again, stray tears slipping from the corners of his eyes. “But they would never let me leave. They’re all emotionally invested, stubborn assholes.” They fell back into silence for a while, Changbin sitting at Felix’s elbow and Felix laying on the ground attempting to stop the flow of tears. 

“I may not be a wish granting witch or a powerful mage,” Changbin started, finally breaking the silence, “but I know a thing or two about magic and the pixies also know a fuck ton about magic. We could help you practice if you want.” Felix stilled entirely before slowly moving his hands from his face to look at Changbin in confusion. Changbin looked at him openly and sincerely.

“You don’t even know me,” Felix said in confusion. “Why would you help a lost stranger that just wandered into your forest looking to have a selfish wish granted?” his voice shifted from confusion to misery by the end of his sentence and he covered his face back up. Changbin gently grabbed Felix’s wrists and removed his hands from his eyes before standing up and dragging a reluctant, but not resistant, Felix along. 

“I would help you because your intentions aren’t selfish and I can’t remember the last time that a mage as cute as you came stumbling through my woods,” Changbin said, grinning as he dropped Felix’s hands. Felix flushed and stared at him without replying to which Changbin only shrugged took a step back.

“Show me what you can do,” Changbin directed, waving vaguely at Felix’s hands. With a sigh, Felix raised his hands and performed a simple naturalist summoning spell, causing a small patch of pink flower to appear on the ground between them. Changbin nodded and crossed his arms over his chest, studying Felix closely. Felix bit his lip self consciously, wanted more than anything else to cast a shroud and hide from Changbin’s criticizing glare. 

“Show me something more sophisticated,” Changbin instructed. “You did that cute one really well, but I want to see one that you have trouble with so that I can actually help you.” Minho had come back with another pixie and they were perched quietly on a low branch just above Changbin’s head, silently scrutinizing Felix’s casting. Great, an audience always made Felix more self conscious which only served to cause him to mess up more often.

Shutting his eyes and taking a deep breath, Felix positioned his hands in front of him to perform a more advanced naturalist spell that would summon a fairy ring which would act as a one way door into the fae realm. He mumbled the incantation, moving his hands carefully along with the words. By the end of the casting, all that had appeared from his labors were a few withered mushrooms vaguely in the shape of an oval. A dejected sigh slipped past his lips as he let his hands drop to his sides. In front of him, Changbin was grinning at him, and the two pixies were tittering quietly to each other. 

“Why are you grinning like that?” Felix demanded, shrinking into himself in discomfort.

“Because you are a very talented mage,” Changbin stated matter-of-factly. “Minho and Seungmin agree.” He gestured up to the two pixies.

“If I’m so talented why am I not improving anymore and why can’t I cast this dumb spell?” Felix shouted, bringing his hands up to rip at his hair. “It’s so frustrating! Everybody else is progressing so much and learning so many useful spells and I’m stuck here summoning patches of daisies! I’m not an asset in training much less in an actual fight!”

“Are you finished?” Changbin asked when Felix stopped shouting. Felix nodded miserably, looking back at Changbin. “The problem is that you care way too much about what your doing. You need to relax. You’re a mage, magic is innate a part of who you are. The way that you are approaching the spell is like some sort of meticulous recipe, which, as cheesy as it sounds, is throwing off your chi. Just calm down and stop thinking about it, you obviously know the movements, just do them,” Changbin finished, nodding for Felix to do it again. Felix blinked at him in confusion for a moment.

In an instant, Changbin was just behind Felix’s shoulder pressing a steady hand between his shoulder blades. Felix jumped in surprise, turning to look at him with wide-eyes.

“Just because I’m not a mage doesn’t mean I’m not magical,” Changbin laughed, his laugh sounding vaguely like the giggle of a pixie. “I have to be able to keep up with the these damn pixies somehow. Now, cast.” Felix nodded and turned back around. Taking a deep breath, he positioned his hands in front of him.

“Focus on my hand,” Changbin instructed, his hand still steadily on Felix’s back. Felix nodded and forced his mind to focus on the warmth radiating from Changbin’s hand between his shoulder blades. His hands moved automatically and he recited the incantation quietly. Before he knew it, the spell was completed and he felt Changbin squeeze his shoulder. 

Opening his eyes, Felix looked to Changbin first before daring to look at the finished product. A wide grin was spread across Changbin’s face and he nodded toward where Felix had been casting. Felix turned and looked. A perfect ring of mushroom was on the ground not far from where they were standing, the air just above the ring sparkling slightly.

“Oh my god,” Felix whispered, staring at the fairy wing. “I did it.” Changbin wrapped an arm around Felix’s shoulders and pulled him into a tight side hug.

“I told you that you are a talented mage,” Changbin said gently. “You’re just too worried about the little details. Magic has a natural flow and it can’t be forced.” Changbin released him then and stepped toward the fairy circle. Carefully picking one of the mushrooms out of the ground and throwing it a distance away, the shimmer vanished.

“However, fae are dangerous and I do not recommend playing in the fae world for any amount of time,” Changbin said seriously, turning back to face Felix, who was still staring in awe at the fairy ring that he had created.

“Thank you,” Felix whispered sincerely, staring up at Changbin.

“Any time, mage,” Changbin said, smiling brightly at Felix. He stepped forward and grasped Felix’s hand in his own. “Now come on, let’s get you out of here and back to your friends.” Felix stared down at their connected hands as he was led through the woods by Changbin, excitedly chirping pixies following not far behind.

They arrived to the edge of the woods far sooner than Felix would have liked. Changbin released his hand, leaving only a cold, empty feeling in its place. 

“This is as far as I can take you,” Changbin said, standing at the very edge of the woods. “Come back and visit, mage. Maybe next time I can learn your name.” Changbin ruffled Felix’s hair before he turned and walked back into the dense woods. Felix stood and watched him disappear into the trees.

“It’s Felix,” he said softly to the dense woods in front of him before turning to leave.  
~~~~

When Felix got back to the safehouse, he was immediately ambushed by a worried and sleep deprived looking Chan and Jisung. Jisung pulled him into a tight hug and held onto him like if he let go, Felix might disappear again. After what felt like an eternity, Jisung finally released him and looked at him with red-rimmed eyes before stepping back for Chan to come over and pull Felix into a quick, bone-crushing hug before holding him out at arms length.

“Where have you been?” Chan demanded, eyes scanning over him. “You just left last night and we were all worried sick. Jisung’s locator spell just came up blank and-” his words died in his throat as he just pulled Felix into another hug.

“We were so scared,” Jisung said quietly from behind Chan. Felix looked down guiltily when Chan released him again, shuffling his feet and clasping and unclasping his hands in front of him.

“Woojin and Jeongin went out to look for you,” Chan said before nodding back to Jisung who scurried off, presumably to call them back.

“I’m sorry,” Felix whispered, still staring glumly at the ground. He hated making them worry about him. They had so much else on their plates, and all he ever seemed to do was add to that. 

“You look exhausted,” Chan said sympathetically, leading Felix by the elbow to the ratty couch near the edgy of the large, open room and setting him down. Chan sat beside him and pulled Felix down so his was his head pillowed in his lap. “Where did you run off to, ‘lix?” Chan asked gently, concern creeping steadily into his voice as he softly petted Felix’s hair. Felix bit his lip and stared at the wall in front of him, relishing in Chan’s warm comfort. He considered either lying or not answering, but he knew that neither would end up working.

“I went to the woods just outside of the city to try to find a witch,” Felix said quietly. “I wanted to stop being such a useless member of the team so I went hoping that she could grant me a wish. Turns out she’s a myth made up by pixies to ensnare dumb mages.” Felix laughed bitterly. Feeling Chan tense, he continued before he could be interrupt him.

“A pixie named Minho led me deep into the woods until I got lost and then just sort of sat with me all night for some reason. This morning, the pixie keeper showed up and…” Felix trailed off, thinking about what exactly Changbin had done for him. He had listened to him have a mental breakdown and had sat and comforted him. He had helped Felix with his casting. He had made Felix feel safe even though he was lost in the middle of the woods that were filled with pixies and who knows what else. He had reminded Felix how much he was loved by his friends, even if he didn’t know that’s what he was doing. “He granted my wish,” Felix whispered, chewing on his lip again as he thought about Changbin.

“Felix…” Chan trailed off, seeming unsure what to say. He stayed quiet, watching Felix for a brief moment. “I’m glad that you came back to us,” he murmured, gently brushing Felix’s hair out of his eyes. Felix suddenly sat bolt upright, a wide grin on his lips.

“I have to show you something,” he said proudly, standing up and positioning himself in the proper posture to perform the spell.

“Right now?” Chan asked, surprised. “You look exhausted can’t it wait?”

“Absolutely not!” Felix exclaimed. Taking a deep breath, Felix preformed the spell, thinking back to how warm Changbin’s hand had been on his back and how nicely it felt in his own hand as he had been led out of the woods. Before he knew it, the spell was complete. When Felix opened his eyes, he saw a perfect ring of mushrooms before him, the air about it sparkling slightly. 

“Oh my god,” Chan said, standing up and walking over to examine it. “You did it. You actually summoned a fairy ring. This is some complicated magic, and you did it.” A wide, proud smile burst out onto Chan’s face as he walked over and pulled Felix into another tight hug. 

“I knew that you could do it,” he said, not releasing Felix. Felix smiled proudly and hugged Chan back.

“I’m glad I came home too,” Felix said into Chan’s shoulder, and for the first time ever, he believed himself.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is my first stray kids fic and it all started because I wanted to write something that started with "It was a dark and stormy night..." and then I was watching the magicians and it kinda just happened.  
> Anyway, thank you for reading and supporting my fic.  
> Catch me on tumblr @acutest-angle


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